Children of the Rubbish Tip – Asuncion, Paraguay

Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, is one of the oldest cities in South America. Gareth & Joanne Morgan visited the city in 2010 and spent a day with the UNICEF staff who run the Abrazo street kids programme. Poverty is one of the causes of children being forced into labour to complement the family income. The unfortunate result is that children do not achieve well at school, or drop out all together.

The Abrazo project aims to reduce the number of children working on the streets, improving their rights to health, education and protection. It includes indigenous street children and their families who earn their living by collecting recyclable garbage. The expected outcome of the programme is that 200 children from the Cateura community of Asuncion will have improved sanitation and recreational facilities, and that 670 children from the 6 Abrazo centres have access to basic educational and recreational material.